Farewell, 'West Wing': an Open Letter from an AP television columnist

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT/AP: Farewell, 'West Wing': an Open Letter
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: May 10, 2006

....Dear President Bartlet,...

***

Please, Mr. President, don't get me wrong. I have a tight enough grip on reality to understand that you are not, and never have been, the nation's actual chief executive.

I can also make distinctions between one TV drama about the presidency and another. The recent ABC flop ''Commander in Chief,'' which installed Geena Davis in an ersatz Oval Office, was clearly so divorced from reality that I can imagine it available to YOU as escapist fare, Mr. President (although I doubt you ever got around to checking it out).

By contrast, ''The West Wing'' as conceived by Aaron Sorkin and then stewarded by others after his departure a few seasons ago (TV series, too, have White House shake-ups) has played true -- in its own ambitious way.

A weekly display of intellect, wit, conscience and high drama, it has explored possibilities for statesmanship that seem rare in the real corridors of power. It has been filled with wonderful actors playing politicians (rather than in real government, where public figures scramble to play their roles convincingly).

On ''The West Wing'' our nation has been on view as if through Alice's looking glass, mirroring us in many respects. (Although I often worried that -- unlike the Lewis Carroll tale -- it was here, on our side of the mirror, where things are backward. I think you know what I mean.)...

EDITOR'S NOTE -- Frazier Moore is a national television columnist for The Associated Press.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/arts/AP-AP-on-TV-West-Wing-Finale.html

[Catch22Dem]

1. I love it...what a great letter

I SO hate to see The WW go :(

[aquart]

4. Me, too.

[mcscajun]

2. It's been a light in the darkness showing us what government

could look like.

If only...

[JerseygirlCT]

3. I'm going to be so sad... nt